Farrell pinch-hits for Middlebrooks, role in Game Two questionable

BOSTON -- It went a bit overlooked in the hoopla surrounding the near-no-hitter Anibal Sanchez and four Detroit relievers tossed at Fenway Park on Sunday. But it was notable to say the least that John Farrell sent up Mike Carp to pinch-hit for Will M

BOSTON -- It went a bit overlooked in the hoopla surrounding the near-no-hitter Anibal Sanchez and four Detroit relievers tossed at Fenway Park on Sunday. But it was notable to say the least that John Farrell sent up Mike Carp to pinch-hit for Will Middlebrooks in the seventh inning.

It was the first time Farrell had hit for Middlebrooks since Aug. 16 -- and that was the only time it happened during the regular season. Carp hit for Middlebrooks with runners on first and second in a four-run game against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.

(Middlebrooks was double-switched out of a National League-rules game in Los Angeles a week after that, but that's not the same thing.)

But Middlebrooks has had a rough postseason, hitting .231 with a double in his 13 at-bats against Tampa Bay and then 0-for-2 with no solid contact in his first two at-bats on Saturday. That came on the heels of a September skid in which he hit .138 with 18 strikeouts and no unintentional walks in his final 59 plate appearances of the regular season.

Farrell wouldn't have pinch-hit for Middlebrooks based only on what he's done in the postseason, but Middlebrooks for all but about a month of the regular season wasn't the Middlebrooks the Red Sox thought they were getting this season.

"You try to take a bigger-picture view here at what some of the success over the long haul has been," Farrell said.

For scuffling hitters like Stephen Drew and Mike Napoli, there's been success over the long haul. For Middlebrooks, less so -- and that's why John Farrell might well write the name of Xander Bogaerts into his lineup on Sunday night. Farrell before the series wouldn't commit to playing Middlebrooks in any game beyond Game One.

Bogaerts worked a seven-pitch at-bat in the ninth inning against Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit, more pitches than Middlebrooks saw in his two at-bats combined. He laid off several touch pitches, including a changeup that faded down and in, before popping to shortstop to end the game.